Record of damage

[gnawsome]

I'm looking for a a replacement 2nd car.
Scanning the ads seems to bring up many with CAT S or N.
I've read up on the definitions but I'm thinking that the system has a few faults.
I would expect the owner would have kept photos of the damage pre-repair and the repair invoice but so far, only one has kept photos (they never did send them tho')
Does the insurance industry keep any record of any vehicle and its accident history?
For me CAT means NO unless it has the history of the damage and the repair.
Am I too fussy or is there a thriving industry in damaged repaired cars and are there 'tells' for me to watch for. Like short ownership for instance...